I have been licensed since 1980 and active in contests for almost as long. My first contest was the 1981 November Sweepstakes as a novice, and my first serious effort was the 1981 Ten Meter Contest. However, on reflecting on recent events this afternoon, it became apparent that trying to fit contesting in with the rest of my life is becoming too stressful. I hate to say that but I have my hands full with raising a family (only 1 kid), a job, trying to stay in shape, and watch football. I have decided to take a break and maybe log only 2 or 3 contests a year, like the 10m contest, the IARU contest, and the Illinois QSO party.

Has anyone else had to make this decision? Was it tough at first? Do you regret the time you missed?

I do about 2-3 per year. Because of my power and antenna, I do search and pounce, which in itself is fun and challenging. I just try to out-do myself from the previous year.

The one contest I did that I will never do again, is the sweeps. I could not believe the exchange on that. It just was not any fun. The exchange should be lowered to 3 fields. Otherwise, world wide SSB or QSO parties are what I do. And it is actually calming, and not stressful, because there really is no pressure.

In a word....NOI work most contests, every weekend if there is decent one running.

No kids, No job (retired), piss-poor antennas with 100 wattsand I still participate. De woman works wednesdaythru sunday (afternoons) so it leaves me LOTS of time aloneto play contesting. Even do quite well sometimes.

I am working the CQ WW CW this weekend, and there is LOTSof activity.

I have a binder full of certificates from regional, national and international slugfests.

So, No, I am not planning on quitting anytime soon unlesssomething happens that I cannot sit in the chair.

I would continue to contest much more if my life allowed it as well. RIght now it just doesn't seem to be. It is stressful enough without the additional stress of trying to fit a contest into it. I just run 100 watts to a dipole as well. Did use the cluster to find and work EL2A a few moments ago for a new 10m country. That is probably how I will make contest QSOs for the next few years-just get new band or mode countries. Not even send in a log.

In 9 years or so my daughter will be off to college. Things should really settle down then (I sure hope, at least).

If I have time I'll spend a little time working contests but it's not something I plan my life around. The last contest that I made more than about a hundred contacts in was probably two years ago. Usually only a couple dozen in each major CW contest. I had a little spare time this weekend and grabbed about 30 contacts in several short sessions on 15 meters in the CQ WWCW.

I have been licensed since 1980 and active in contests for almost as long. My first contest was the 1981 November Sweepstakes as a novice, and my first serious effort was the 1981 Ten Meter Contest. However, on reflecting on recent events this afternoon, it became apparent that trying to fit contesting in with the rest of my life is becoming too stressful. I hate to say that but I have my hands full with raising a family (only 1 kid), a job, trying to stay in shape, and watch football. I have decided to take a break and maybe log only 2 or 3 contests a year, like the 10m contest, the IARU contest, and the Illinois QSO party.

Has anyone else had to make this decision? Was it tough at first? Do you regret the time you missed?

John AF5CCA stressed out parent/ham/DXer

We all need to remember that this is just a hobby. Yes, we have an obligation to help out in an emergency when called upon, but this is still just a hobby. I got my license 20 years ago shortly before I turned 18. I would love to do more in the hobby, but I have a lot of other things going on and a life outside of amateur radio. If I never win any contests or make DXCC Honor Roll, I think I'll still live and be just fine.

The only break I take is the time between the last contest and the next one!

I try not to miss any of the major (DX contest) events and, indeed, I often schedule my time and vacations with them in mind. But I'm able to do that. Over time, though, I've come to realize that it's ok to miss one here or there. Life still goes on just fine. Just don't want to miss too many of 'em!

The only times I've taken a break from contesting since I got interested in contesting have been when I was taking a break from ham radio entirely.

I piddle around in a contest pretty much every weekend. For example, I made 20 or so Qs in the TARA RTTY test this AM. I save my "serious" efforts for CQWW, ARRL DX and CQWPX contests. I will try to hit the NAQPs from here (KP2) as well as IARU. Gonna try to get up to speed on RTTY for those CQ and ARRL tests. We'll see.

Yeah, I took a break about 25 years ago and have (with a few minor exceptions) been on my "break" ever since. It stopped being fun about 3 AM one morning during a very slow time in a CW DX contest. I asked myself why I was doing this if I wasn't enjoying it or getting paid to do it. I couldn't come up with an answer so I just shut the rig off and walked away for about 25 years.

I think there's room for "non-blockbuster", "not-all-weekend" contests too. The NCCC NS Sprint on Thursday nights is a great half hour dose of contesting with some of the best ops in the business. A little longer and on a weekend, but the NA Sprints are very competitive and only 4 hours long. I haven't really explored the CWops mini-tests myself. All these events try hard to not be long slogs

There are also an increasing number of limited time participants in the big contests who try to effectively use limited time to great advantage. One way is to enhance S&P with RBN or other spots.

Some of the Euro contests this past year, I noticed, had a "6 hour" participation class. Worked out well for me in DL DX.

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